Saturday, March 15, 2008

Once again we are proud to be a co-presenter of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival . The second film we are co-presenting is Whispering Sidewalks.
The film will be preceded by remarks on the film’s preservation by Pacific Film Archive curator Mona Nagai, a presentation about Betty Inada by historian George Yoshida, and a short musical performance.

Location: Castro Theatre

Time: 3:00 pm

Cost: $11.00

About the film…
Though an increasing number of Asian American singers and actors have found success in Asia during recent years, few are familiar with the wave of Japanese American jazz performers who became stars in Japan during the ‘30s. The most well-known among them was Sacramento-born Nisei singer-dancer Betty Inada, who stars in Whispering Sidewalks, Japan’s first jazz musical—a film long believed to be lost.

Inada plays Betty Yoshida, a singer and dancer from America who arrives in Japan to go on tour, only to be swindled by scheming managers. Penniless and cast to the streets, Betty is taken in by Oki, a talented tap dancer who introduces her to a group of struggling musicians living and working together.

Inada is at her charming best as she croons “La Cucaracha,” “Blue Moon” and other favorites. She’s joined on screen by Denmei Suzuki, a matinee idol who also directed the film; Saburo Nakagawa, the foremost pioneer of Western dance in Japan, and the Nippon Columbia Jazz Band, the most acclaimed jazz group of the time. The film—repatriated in 1994 in an archival collaboration between the Pacific Film Archive and the National Film Center, Tokyo—has recently been preserved by the PFA with a restored soundtrack and English subtitles (by Linda Hoaglund). With this newly minted print and subtitles, American audiences can now catch a glimpse of the surprisingly modern cultural milieu of ‘30s Japan, and revel in this showcase of some of the top performers in the world of pre-war Japanese jazz. - Taro Goto

Japan | 1936 | 84 min | 35mm

In Japanese with English subtitles
Directed By: Denmei Suzuki
Producer: Shiro Kaga
Writer: Nobukazu Inazu
Music: Ryo Watanabe
Cast: Betty Inada, Saburo Nakagawa, Denmei Suzuki, Tokio Seki

About the film festival…
The Center for Asian America Media presents the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF) every March. The SFIAAFF is the nation’s largest showcase for new Asian American and Asian films, annually presenting approximately 120 works in San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose. Since 1982, the SFIAAFF has been an important launching point for Asian American independent filmmakers as well as a vital source for new Asian cinema.